War of the Gods
by MaxCullen-Whitlock
Summary: 11 years after LO, Rachel's prophecy is being forfilled. The gods are about to embark on a war that can destroy the world. Only seven demigods can save them. But they need to learn to cooperate and trust while discovering dark pasts and darker futures.
1. Witchcraft and Water Ruin My Summer

**AN: I know this starts off all stupid and Mary Sue but I'm not good at beginnings so bear with me for a little. And the standard disclaimer (I don't own the series or the character; Rick Riordan does, etc.) applies. All right, enough crap from me, on with the story.**

See, being a half-blood is not big on my to-do list. I didn't want it. Didn't need it. But you gotta admit, some of it's kinda cool. Like the staying-at-a-summer-camp-all-year-and-not-going-to-school thing. But the rest sucks. The fighting to the death, the watching friends die, the not knowing if you'll die too, and the worrying about stupid, cryptic prophecies is not fun.

I started off as Hermione (Nia) DeVere, a normal girl with a slightly eccentric (crazy) single father who also happened to be an author. Then when I was nine we went to New York City. I got lost in the Natural History Museum and got separated from my dad. I was attacked by a sphinx who disguised herself as a tour guide. When I told my dad, he told me that I had to go to a special camp and took me to Camp Half-Blood. On our way there, he explained everything. I always liked mythology so that really helped. Unfortunately, he disappeared on his way back to D.C., where we lived. Some Ares kids thought they'd tease me, but gods, were they wrong! That was when Athena claimed me. So I moved to her cabin, Cabin Six.

The interesting bits start happening when I was eleven. And yes, it does get interesting. It was a "normal" day at Camp Half-Blood in early May. I was on guard duty, watching for new campers at Thalia's Pine on Half-Blood Hill when I saw something... unusual. Even for camp. It was a horde of what looked like every _dracaenae_ in the world that survived the battle for Olympus eleven years ago, and even a few that didn't. Anyway, it was the most monsters I'd ever seen in my two years of hero training and even before, when I lived at their mercy in the mortal world. They were chasing, and attacking, five very tired, very battered demigods. I was on patrol with my best friend Sandhya, daughter of Morpheus (and a Hindu dream teller; her name is "twilight" in Sanskrit) and Devin, son of Ares. Devin, of course, had no regard for, like, personal safety, and blindly rushed into battle, screaming alternate curses in English and Ancient Greek, and prayers to Ares, Sandhya close behind. I drew my knife and had just wiped out a row of the snake-women when I heard a high, blood-curdling scream; a shriek of agony.

I quickly saw the source, even through the mess of fighting _dracaenae_. It came from a boy, not much older than I was. He had a spear sprouting from his thigh and an arrow pinning down his right arm. From the odd angle of his left, I assumed it was broken. I mean, it looked like mine did when it was broken and how many things can really look like a broken arm? A _dracaenae _leaned over him, ready for the death blow. Up until a knife appeared between her ribs and she disintegrated, that is. The kid passed out, leaving it to me to protect him and kill as many _dracaenae _as possible. Then Chiron, our centaur activities director, came to the rescue. With him was most of the rest of the campers, brandishing assorted weapons. The remaining _dracaenae_, those not killed by the three of us, either fled or disintegrated from the might of the half-bloods!

Yeah, right. It was still a bloody hard-fought battle. Luckily, no casualties. And, yes, that is a big thing for us. One of the new girls shouted something, and four _dracaenae_ exploded in puffs of sparks. Another girl grabbed the spear from a fallen snake woman and used it to fend off the others. A boy and a girl who looked like twins were both fighting with kitchen knives and a quiver of forks, but when he stabbed at his opponent, she disappeared in black fire. Eventually we fought them off.

"Hermione, are you okay?" came Chiron's frantic voice.

"I'm fine, but the new kids are hurt."

He stood and bellowed orders. "Apollo, tend to the injured. Ares, Hephaestus, take stock of damaged weapons and repair what can be repaired. Demeter, Aphrodite, and Dionysus help Apollo. Everyone else, back to wherever you were. Head counselors, meet in the rec room in an hour. You, come with me." The last sentence was directed at me. Uh oh. Chiron was practically my father since Dad went missing, and he rarely ever used his serious, I'm-the-teacher-listen-to-me-and-don't-goof-off voice. When he did, I knew he meant business. Especially when he insisted that we go into the Big House.

"Ms. Shakespeare, listen to me. I'm proud of what you did, but you could have gotten killed for five strangers."

"Yeah, except those strangers are five very powerful half-bloods. One of Athena's kids doesn't matter as much." He was shocked. So was I, actually, but what I said was true. One kid _didn't_ matter as much as five, especially possible kids of the Big Three.

"I know why you did it. I'm just asking you to think before charging into battle with a _dracaenae _army. To teach you to be more responsible, you, Devin, and Sanhya can help the new ones settle in."

"Um, sir, Devin's already on constant kitchen duty for torching the Demeter cabin." And besides, punishment with him would be punishment. _Please,_ I thought, _If Zeus really is the merciful lord he's supposed to be, let Chiron assign someone else to punishment with me._

Maybe Zeus was feeling merciful today, or maybe Athena intervened for me, but Chiron thought a little and said, "Very well. But we'll postpone Sandhya's punishment as well so that you won't be socializing. Perhaps Cathy of Athena and Brian of Hephaestus can help you." I was content with that. Cathy was the fifteen-year-old acting head counselor while the real one was at college and Brian was a cool, slightly intimidating size-wise, but cool thirteen-year-old.

After the meeting, the one that I was not invited to and couldn't find a way to sneak in, they dragged me out of my bunk and book where I was trying to hide. No one hides from Brian and Cathy. Together, I swear, they could sniff out the most difficult fugitive to find from wherever he was hiding. They tugged me out into the afternoon sun with gleeful cries of "Let's help some new campers!"

I surveyed the group in front of me on the porch of the Big House. None of them looked happy to be there. Actually, that's the understatement of the decade. The dark-haired girl had her Ipod on. Her brother had his eyes closed and was leaning against the railing. The injured boy winced as he moved, jostling his wounds, and another girl muttered something under her breath, causing a subtle shift in the air next to her. The Native-ish looking girl was the most active of the five, eyes darting around, fidgeting restlessly. Cathy sighed, "Let's get started on this lot."

She cleared her throat. "Hey, I'm Cathy. This is Brian and Hermione- Nia. Um, who are you?"

The shimmer in the air solidified into a magical shield and a holographic image appeared, spinning above her. It was a very evil-looking spirit-thing that I recognized from one of the darker cabins, the cabin of Hecate. Great. There goes my peaceful summers. Stupid witchcraft!

"Besides a daughter of Hecate," added Brian needlessly. Thank you, Captain Obvious. Everyone looked confused except the girl in question and Native-ish. "So, will you tell us your names?"

They looked to Hecate's daughter, but said nothing. "Why don't you trust us?" cried Cathy, getting desperate.

"Why should I? I've never been able to trust anyone before," she answered.

"Because that's what you gotta do to survive, and if you don't, you'll end up impaled on an enemy's weapon." There's Cathy with her logic when ya need her.

She hesitated. "Okay, fine. I'm Isis. The emo twins over there are Abigail and Scott, the surfer chick is Maria, and that pile of blood and bandages is Julian."

"Why we here?" asked Abigail.

"Well, did you not see that army that was after you?" snapped Cathy, exasperated. Brian, as always, tried to cool things off.

"Because we're not..." And that was as far as he got because just then, Nico di Angelo, king of ghosts, appeared in the shadow next to me.

"Nico! By the gods! Stop appearing like that. You have no idea how freaking annoying that is."

Cathy and Brian respectfully bowed their heads, saying "Welcome, sir" and "Master di Angelo".

"Human is the word you're looking for. Hey, guys. I'm Nico, for those you who don't know me. All of you have one parent who is mortal, and one who is a Greek god." Nico looked the same as always, tall college student with really pale skin and shaggy black hair. Still wearing faded black clothed and that Strigian iron blade. He was cheerful, which was normal, except when he was angry, in which case he looked a lot like his father, Lord Hades. "I've been sent to take Hades's two newest kids to his palace. I'm assuming it's Abigail and Scott."

"Wait, I can't go anywhere with you. I have to find out what's really going on. We have to stay together," argued Abigail.

He sighed. "Fine. I knew Father never had the most tact. And he will never listen to me. 'Useless half-blood. Bianca would see the sense in my idea.'" He shadow-traveled inside to talk to Chiron.

"Show-off," I muttered. "Why can't he just use the door, for Athena's sake?"

Cathy cleared her throat nervously. "On with the tour?"

That pretty much set the stage for the rest of the afternoon, except for one instance. We were trying to separate them into their respective cabins, but they refused. "We stay together," insisted Isis. And they wouldn't go, no matter how much reason and persuasion we used. Cathy's temper started to fray, and she suggested the use of force. The sun was dipping below the trees and we wanted to be on time for dinner. But when Brian started herding the twins over to the Hades cabin, Isis led an attack.

Apparently Devin missed a few of their weapons when he confiscated the knives, because everyone was armed. We were at the edge of the woods, by the stream, and Maria tried a fairly basic move, the stab-and-run-away. Well, I say try because when she stabbed Brian, her collapsible spear snapped and splintered into a billion pieces. She got the running part right, though. Cathy was busy with Isis, dodging tendrils of magic, trying the get close enough to knock her out. Brian was holding two struggling twins in the air like they do in old movies. Everyone was at dinner, so no one was there to help. I sprinted after Maria, throwing my knife just as her foot left the ground so that as she stepped down with her other foot, my knife would catch the cuff of her camo pants, sending her sprawling on her face. It kinda worked, but she fell in the water, and that was disastrous.

The water returned her strength and she got up quickly, completely unharmed, which was odd, because that knife trick had been known to knock out those hard-headed Ares campers, and people with helmets, from the force with which their head hit ground. But there she was, standing and ready to fight. We circled each other like wolves, waiting. She moved first, lunging at my heart with what was certainly a stolen sword. I blocked it easily, then feinted at her neck before thrusting at her sword arm. She dodged it, and renewed her attack. I parried every blow on my knife. She was good, I gave her that, but nothing I hadn't seen before. The odds were slightly in her favor, because she was taller, more muscular, had a longer weapon, and seemed energized from her dip in the stream. But she was unexperienced to years of training, and I was smarter, more conservative, trickier. I ducked in low and disarmed her, flipping the sword in the air.

Brian came through the undergrowth, having left Cathy to deal with Isis. "You look tired. You'd better escort Julian to the Hermes cabin. I'll take care of her." Sounded like a good plan, right? Wrong. You know how I mentioned that I was a smarter fighter than her? Well, she was still smart, and Brian, as talented as he is, was not a good swordsman. He sucked. She had pulled a knife out of her pocket and beat him up. I heard Cathy scream, and came running. Turns out, she wasn't screaming because of Brian, it was because of the holographic trident above Maria's head.


	2. I Have a Dream

**Author's Note: Heyo. Just wanted to thank anyone who's reading my story because I know it's not the greatest. I had something I wanted to say here but I forget it right now.**

**(Insert classic disclaimer HERE)**

Another thing that sucks about being a half-blood is that you have tons of siblings. So whenever anything horrible, secret, or even mildly embarrassing happens to you, they know, and they never let you forget it. Now, speaking hypothetically here, let's say that a few mysterious and very powerful new demigods show up. You have the dubious honor of showing them around. Everything goes wrong and they attack you, almost beating you. Then, you show up late for dinner totally caked in mud and sweating like a dog. Your siblings absolutely rip you apart. And what do you think happened to me?

You guessed right! It was exactly what I just said. When Cathy and I walked in, amid cat-calling, whistles, and jeers, the Athena table erupted into a flurry of speculation. She sat at the end of the table for the older campers (age-wise, not seniority) while I sat in between Ben and Tom, who are both my age. "So, did a pegasus swoop down from the sky and try to take you away?" asked over-imaginative Ben.

"No, I think she was just meeting her boyfriend in the woods for a romantic stroll. Right, witch?" teased Tom. It really wasn't fair to joke about witches, not with the Hecate campers really being witches and warlocks, but the name Hermione lent itself to a lot of jokes involving magic. As to where the boyfriend came from, I'm not really sure. "I think something _happened_, don't you, Ben?" he continued.

"I don't _have_ a boyfriend, you idiot!" I protested.

"I still think something tried to abduct her," Ben insisted. I told them what really happened, and then they went back to debating theories. My favorite was the one that had me as the damsel in distress and being saved by a giant over-sized spider, which all of the Athena campers are afraid of.

"Attention for the announcements," shouted Chiron over the racket we had been making.

"Well, first I'm supposed to say that a few more little brats have been added to your silly camp. Izzy Fountain, daughter of Hecate," I caught a glimpse of Isis's dark red hair over in the corner of the pavilion reserved for half-bloods that made everyone else nervous shaking as she laughed at Mr. D's version of her name. "Ally and Simon Barker, children of Hades." Abigail and Scott were listening to their Ipod at the nearly empty Hades table, next to the Hecate table. "James, undetermined." Julian was not present. "And Molly, daughter of Poseidon." Maria was arm wrestling Paul Windsor, her head counselor, and winning. Chiron leaned down and whispered something to Mr. D. "Oh, I mean Isis Fontana, Abigail and Scott Brennan, Julian, and Maria. I'm _so_ sorry, I'm sure. Capture the flag is canceled tonight due to the excitement earlier today." A cry of protest rose from the crowd, but I said nothing. I was too tired. So were Cathy and Brian, who had had his butt kicked by a new camper. He would take extra sword-fighting lessons, I was sure.

When I fell asleep, I fell into uneasy dreams. For me, dreams are never just dreams. They either tell me the future, show me what's up elsewhere, or carry messages from my friend, daughter of the dream god. Tonight, it was current events.

I was in the throne room at Mount Olympus. Yes, I have been there before, on a class trip. Lord Zeus looked, well, thunderous. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle of Delphi, was cowering at his feet, very sheepishly. The other gods gathered around, wearing mixed expressions of confusion and fear. "The Spirit of Delphi has spoken a prophecy!" he proclaimed. "She has declared that those whom I trust shall betray me and bring my downfall. She mentioned water and darkness and children."

"Perhaps it would be helpful to hear the _exact_ wording?" suggested Mother Athena.

"Very well. Oracle?" Lord Zeus commanded.

She recited in the voice of the Spirit of Delphi:

_Betrayed you shall be by those whom you trust,_

_Centuries of brotherhood crumble from rust._

_Children of great ones speeding the fall,_

_Water and darkness shall rise above all._

"So you see? Something must be done," Zeus roared.

"Brother, calm down. The prophecy has many possible meanings," insisted Demeter, waving a cornstalk.

"Like what? Seems like that means war is inevitable," yawned Ares, cleaning his fingernails with a blood-stained knife.

"Shut up, Mr. All-blood-no-brains," snapped Lady Artemis. "It could mean anything. We won't know until it's happened."

"She is right. Take the first line, for example. It could mean anyone. My Lord Father trusts many," agreed Athena.

"I know what it means," decided Zeus. "Putting together all of the lines, I can tell that my two brothers will rise against me, and will be victorious unless I stop them now. The children of the Big Three will help them. I plan to get rid of these half-bloods before they can aid in my destruction"

"Father, you're going senile and paranoid in your old age," suggested Apollo.

"Don't tell me what I am. I am still as powerful and strong as ever."

"But Apollo's right," soothed Demeter. "Just because our horrible father took Uranus's throne, and you took his, doesn't mean that anyone's going to try to take your power from you."

"Maybe you should listen to reason, Dad," inserted Athena.

"Besides, if you fight, it will ruin agriculture."

"_MOM_!" exclaimed Persephone.

"I don't care what you say. You're just trying to help them." He pointed to Hades and Poseidon. "From now on, you are both banished from Olympus! Don't let me ever see you again."

The scene shifted to a forest somewhere. Athena, Artemis, Hestia, and Demeter were in conference with Thalia, Lieutenant of the Hunters of Artemis, and Clarisse, head of a group of older demigods dedicated to fighting. "I had hoped that we would be able to calm them down, but Zeus is unwilling to back off. Hades and Poseidon will fight him over it if he doesn't take back his words. We need you to hold off the fighting long enough for us make them see sense," explained Athena. "Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Hera, Hermes, Hephaestus, Eris, Eros, Janus, Nemesis, Hebe, Ganymede, and Dionysus are backing Zeus, along with all of his other children among the minor gods. Poseidon and Hades are working together. Hecate, Morpheus, Iris, Persephone, and us four are helping them. It will most likely turn into a war that will destroy the world if we don't stop it. Not to mention all of the innocent half-bloods that could be killed."

"Innocent?" snickered Demeter.

"Well, a lot less guilty than some I could mention. Cough*Eris*Cough," replied Artemis. Athena nodded.

"You think _Eris _is behind this?" asked Demeter incredulously. "I know everyone hates her-"

"With good reason." muttered Athena.

"And you still haven't forgiven her for the Golden Apple, but that's no reason to blame someone. It's beside the point that she has no respect for agriculture..."

"It makes sense. And as wisdom goddess, I should know."

"Should," agreed Demeter.

"Let's discuss this later. We need help saving the world," interrupted Artemis.

Clarisse seemed to look directly at me. "We need your help. Go to the Garden of the Gods. We'll meet you there." And with that, I woke up.

Damn. Where was the Garden of the Gods. I vaguely remembered the name, but I couldn't remember it to save my life. I'd have to ask the Oracle. But that could wait. I needed to talk to Annabeth Chase, architect of Olympus. I went outside, where the early morning sun was just beginning to shine, and took out a prism that I used for Iris-Messaging. I threw a drachma into the rainbow. "O goddess, accept my offering. Show me Annabeth Chase, Mount Olympus."

Annabeth had just woken up. She drew her knife, nearly knocking over her steaming coffee. "Who's there?"

"Ms. Chase, it's me- Hermione. I need to ask to ask you something."

"It'd better be important."

"It is. I had a dream. It was a message from Mother and some other goddesses." I explained what I had seen. "They need me to meet them at the Garden of the Gods. Where is that?"

"Colorado Springs, Colorado. Near Denver. I'm afraid your dream was true. The gods are fighting." I heard shouting on her end. "Gotta go. Lord Zeus wants me to take all of the temples to Poseidon out of my plans. Percy will never stand for that." And the message cut off. But how was I to get from New York City to Colorado Springs? Time for a chat with the Oracle.

**AN: REVIEWS are to FAN-FICTION as MARSHMALLOW'S are to HOT CHOCOLATE... necessary! So press the lonely little review button down there. Thanx. ;)**


	3. I Learn that I Am Doomed to Failure

**AN: Heyo. Thank you to The-All-Mighty for giving me my first good review and being the first to add this story to Favorites, and joesalzer for adding this story to his Favorites. Thanx a lot, guys! This chapter is dedicated to you. Sorry about how short this one is.**

The Oracle of Delphi, A.K.A. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, lived in an artist studio in Manhattan. So all I have to do is go through Long Island, cross a bridge, and there I am, right? Wrong. First I have to get out of camp. Damn.

Now, if the Labyrinth had still been around, I would have had no problem. But since that _no-problem_-entrance-and-exit-to-camp posed a tiny security issue, down it came. Leaving me with a dilemma. Maybe Mom could help. So I, dutiful little daughter that I am (not), I forget all about giving a sacrifice. But it didn't actually matter. She needed me, so she would do whatever I needed to help me reach her. "O great goddess of heroes, aid me in my hour of need," I chanted like the older (and wiser) campers always tell you to do when you need a godly hand. I would've asked them, but I couldn't tell anyone where Almighty Zeus might overhear. That would be bad.

I guess Athena was busy planning for the hopefully-not-a-war, because it wasn't her that came, but her winged sidekick- Nike, goddess of victory. "Your mother wishes me to convey her gratitude that you are coming, and she also wishes to bestow a gift upon her favorite daughter and hero." She held out a big, silvery cape, fastened with a pin in the shape of an owl's head. It was a barn owl, _tyto alba_. What can I say? I like birds. "Press the owl's beak when you need to become invisible." Invisible?! Sweet. With that, Nike turned on her heel and flew off. I put on the cape, which blurred slightly into a gray sweatshirt with an owl pin from the Mist. Well, that solves that problem.

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A little bit later, I was sitting inside Ms. Dare's apartment, sipping lemonade and surrounded by paintings of things to come. "Now, let's get to business. Why are you here?" she asked, shaking her red curls. "It'd better be important."

"Um... well, I'd like a prophecy, please."

She muttered to herself, "Great. Another half-blood on her stupid quest. _And_ the answer to the 'Next Great Prophecy'." She turned to me. "Well, the Great Prophecy's in the drawer by the sink, and then you can ask your stupid _question_." She seemed to almost spit out the words. I hurried to the drawer, and found... five wallets.

"Uh, why are there five? Are there, like, five Great Prophecies?"

"They're all the same. I'll explain once you've read it. After all, it must be too complicated for a mighty hero to understand." I understood what Percy meant when he said she would punch people with words.

"_Seven half-bloods shall answer the call._

_To storm or fire, the world must fall._

_An oath to keep with a final breath,_

_And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death."_

"I get it. The extra copies are for each of the seven half-bloods, and two have already taken theirs," I announced, triumphant. But who were they...

"Amazing," she said dryly. "Now what did you want to ask me? Come on, ask me. That's my job. I _am_ the Oracle."

"Okay, well, what do I need to do?" I asked hesitantly. She stiffened up and her fingers curled into claws. Her green eyes glowed brighter, and her breathing rasped. In a hoarse voice she prophesied:

_On a mission of good, you'll only bring bad,_

_Your presence will dash any hopes being had,_

_Unable to stop bloodshed, arriving too late,_

_You'll deliver your friend to the cruel jaws of Fate._

I slammed my fist down on the table, blinking back tears. Damn. Should I not go on the quest? But Mother, Lady Artemis, and the others, they were counting on me. I couldn't let them down. And so I managed to convince myself to undertake what, according to the Oracle, was a hopeless quest, doomed from the start. I started to leave, then remembered something. "Wait, Ms. Dare? Who were the other two half-bloods that came?"

"Why would I tell you that? You heroes, thinking you're so important, barging in and expecting everyone to do what they want. No." I hoisted my backpack and left before it could escalate into a full-fledged fight.

By then it was mid-morning, around ten if my ancient, screwed up, and ridiculously slow watch was to be trusted. I needed to get as far away from Camp Half-Blood as possible to avoid being brought back in chains. And I'm not over-exaggerating anything. Cathy and our real head counselor, Nate, are rule-freaks. So I took the first bus out of New York that I could find. By that night, I ended up somewhere in northeast Pennsylvania.

I was hiking out in some little patch of trees (that part of Pennsylvania's full of 'em) when I found a camp. Like, a camp as in a place that some half-bloods were sleeping for the night, not a commercial, pay to get in, campground. It had all the right things: sleeping bags, knives, gold drachmas, and baggies of nectar and ambrosia. Only one thing missing- the people. I realized how stupid I had been, wandering totally unaware into what was sure to be a trap. Real *Pretty moment there. But before I could do anything but curse at myself, I felt a blade on my neck.

"You're surrounded. Don't move, or I'll kill you."

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***Pretty moment: From Scott Westerfeld's Uglies books. (Pretty- person who, along with physical beauty, is shallow, spaced-out, doesn't remember what happened before they were Pretty, only interested in partying, acts popular) Pretty moments are when you space out and/or act like a Pretty. Hermione spaced and forgot to be aware of possible danger.**

**AN: Yeah, cliffhanger! So ends the third chapter. I congratulate you for making it this far, so yeah.**

**Another AN: And if you make it this far, you're obligated to REVIEW if you want. Reviews and fan-fiction go together like yin and yang, like day and night, sun and moon, boy and girl, Jasper and Alice, Max and Fang. And a fan-fic without reviews is like a hot summer day, like the one I just had, without air conditioning and ice cream, neither of which I had. It sucked. And so will you if you don't REVIEW. **


	4. I Fall in Love With the Hero of Olympus

**AN: This chapter is dedicated to the anonymous reviewer (m) who basically told me that I'd make a good author. Thanx! It's also dedicated to caitlumms and AnnabethXNico-RheaXNickolas, who wanted me to write more. So here it is:**

Did you know that a lot of people that I know would, if confronted with a sword at their throat, panic and run forward? Of course, that would cut their own head off, but it's still their instinct reaction. If you're training, that's fine, because you don't die, and can fix your mistake, but if you're out on a quest, it would be very bad. Let's just say I was trying to avoid that kind of _bad_. "What do you want with me?" I growled.

"Why are you here?" came the snarled reply right next to my ear.

"Well, I was taking a walk in the woods, minding my own business, when I get threatened for my life. Now I'm here because you're holding me here. And I would suggest letting me go right now before my friends find us." I was bluffing, but I hoped they wouldn't know that. While my captor tried to figure out whether or not to trust me, I punched her in the stomach and grabbed the sword. When I whirled around, I found myself facing- Isis Fontana, daughter of Hecate.

She looked shocked that I had the nerve to disarm her in front of her minions. Said minions had already drawn weapons to protect their leader. Wow. Such loyalty. I wondered what the trick was. It would certainly help if the Athena kids helped me like that. "So, are you all answering the Great Prophecy, too?" I asked.

"Why do you want to know?" she shot back.

"Um, 'cause I am, and I wanted to know who my fellow questers are. And as I'm the one who's armed, you'll be listening to me, not the other way around."

"If you hurt me, you'll never make it out alive." She glanced around at her minions as she spoke. Maria certainly looked ready to act, with a three-pointed spear, like a trident, and a sword. Abigail and Scott were flanking Julian like bodyguards with Celestial bronze knives. Julian himself looked about ready to pass out and gripped the sword as if his life depended on it.

I dropped the sword. "Okay," I said. "I won't hurt anyone here if you let me travel with you."

Isis picked up and sheathed the sword. "Deal." But neither of us trusted the other enough to shake on it. She pointed to a spot at the edge of the clearing. "You sleep there."

I gratefully accepted the spot, not because I needed the help and security of traveling in numbers, but because I wanted to keep an eye on Isis and Maria. There was no telling what they'd do. "Hey," I looked up to see Julian standing over me.

"Hey, what?"

"I just wanted to talk," he said, hurt.

"About what?" I was confused. Why would he want to talk to me?

"About this quest thing. Isis is the only one who received either a copy of the Great Prophecy or a prophecy of our own. The Oracle didn't have anything to say to us. She couldn't answer our questions." That was odd. But it still didn't explain why he was talking to me. Boys like him didn't talk to girls like me. I would never be good enough for him. "I'm not really saying this right. I just wanted to explain why Isis was acting so touchy. I didn't want you to hate her for it." Ah, so he wasn't talking to _me_, he was excusing _her_. She was good enough for him.

I fell asleep thinking about his dark blue eyes and almost-black hair, but my dream was not all fluffy love-crap. Isis was arguing with Abigail, green eyes flashing in frustration. "We have to go. We're not safe if we stay."

Abigail shook her head. "No. I can't leave Mom."

"She'll survive without you. Everything is happening to you. With you gone, she'll be safe."

"What about all of her 'friends'?"

"My dad can live with her. He'll protect her. It'll work; I promise."

"All right. We'll come. But Mom'd better be safe."

"Don't worry. I won't let you down."

The scene changed to a dark alley in a city. Maria was there, carrying a beach bag that read, _Resident of Hawaii, Not a Tourist_. Julian yelled, "Where are we going?"

Isis replied, "Somewhere we'll be safe. Are you sure you want to come?"

"I have to. My mom's boyfriend kicked me out. I don't have anywhere to go back to," he insisted shakily.

"Fine, but we need to keep movin-" Abigail's words were cut off by a loud growling. "Run!" she screamed. A huge hellhound leaped from a boarded-up door. It bowled right over Scott and made for Julian. "Stop," Abigail commanded. It paused for a moment, looked her over, and ran straight past her.

Maria lunged at it with a spear that she'd acquired who knows where, but missed the head, snapping it against the beast's massive shoulder. Isis yelled something unintelligible and the hellhound stumbled. She moved in for the kill but it was back on its feet, teeth a foot from Julian's throat. He put a hand out as it swiped at him with claws the size of butcher knives. When they connected, the hellhound drew back, as if it had received a shock. It recovered quickly, and lunged at Julian, who stepped back and tripped over something. The dog jumped on top of him, paw on either side of his chest. Isis grabbed a stone and threw it, "Dumb dog," she screamed, trying to distract it. It worked, if only momentarily. Julian scrambled to his feet, clutching a piece of Maria's spear. When the hound surged forward, he met it, stabbing the spear into its heart. It flickered with light for a second, then collapsed.

Isis, Maria and Scott started lifting the body off of Julian, but stopped. "It shocked me. That's odd. What did you do?" asked Maria suspiciously.

"One's never attacked us before. It's always been something slightly easier to fight," added Scott. "And it was Maria's spear. So what did _you_ do to it, Maria?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I'd watch myself when I go swimming from now on. Drowning isn't pleasant to do." As I drifted back to consciousness, the last thing I heard was an ominous rumble of thunder.

We decided to follow a tiny river, stream, whatever, out of the woods. As I passed a little waterfall behind the others, a female voice said, "Deposit one drachma to hear your Iris-Message." I fished one out of my pocket and dropped it into the spray of water. Nico's face looked out at me.

"Hermione. It's urgent. I need to tell you something."

"About Dad?" I had hardly dared hope, but every so often, I'd ask Nico if he was dead. I wanted to talk to him again.

"No. But it's more important. You remember Luke Castellan, from the war against Kronos, and how he wanted to be reborn three times?" Of course. What else did Annabeth talk about, besides architecture? I nodded. "And you know those new heroes you were showing around?" I nodded again. "Well, one of them is Luke reborn."

That got my attention. "Which one? I'm with them now."

"The boy, Julian, that you can't seem to get enough of." Great. Now I had a spy on my nonexistent love life. But even more importantly, Luke was reborn as Julian, most likely a son of Zeus.

**AN: Thanx for reading this far. I would really really appreciate if you reviewed. It boosts the low self-esteem of poor fanfiction writers like myself. REVIEWS to FANFICTION are like CHEESE and SAUCE to PASTA; not essential, but pretty damn close.**


	5. We Go Rafting During the Storm of the Ce

**AN: This is (finally) chapter 5. I couldn't think of what to write, but then I got an idea from some music I was listening to. This chapter is dedicated to "Ashes" who asked for more. Please read on:**

**We Go Rafting During the Storm of the Century**

I would've stood at the waterfall staring all day, but soon enough, my comrades came back for me, Isis and Maria shooting nasty looks at Abigail, Scott, and Julian. I could only assume that the first two would rather've left me behind. "Whatcha waitin' for? We have a tight schedule," admonished Isis. "Let's go."

"Do you even know where we are?" I asked, pulling out a map from my backpack. It showed the whole USA in detail, including where we were.

"Now I do, Smart-Ass," growled Maria. I was getting on her nerves. Good.

Abigail broke in. "There's a town up ahead on the map. Should we go into it or avoid it?"

"How big?" That was Julian.

Maria opened her mouth, but couldn't come up with an answer, so I interceded. "It's a smallish city. There is a small college and a university. We could easily pick up supplies and pass through virtually unnoticed." Maria scowled at me.

"Don't go swimming unsupervised, or an accident might just happen," she threatened through clenched teeth.

"Hope you drown!" laughed Scott, breaking the tension that had gathered.

Isis took control. "So, we're going to this- what's it called, Smart One?"

"Bethlehem, home of Lehigh University."

"Bethlehem, as in Jesus and Christmas?" asked Abigail, puzzled.

"Nope. That one's in like, Israel or something. This one just copied the name."

"Anyway," said Isis, picking up the thread of the discussion, "If we follow this road, we'll get there. Smarty, can you guide us?"

"Ah sure can," I said in a Southern cowboy accent. Don't ask me why, but those words sound good like that.

"We'll be picking up food and change clothes. Then we split. Got it?" We nodded. "Good. Any questions?"

"Yep. Can we hitchhike?" asked Scott.

"This isn't funny, Joker. This is a serious mission." But Abigail was giving Maria bunny ears as she said that, making it feel very un-serious. "Quit it, Zombie Queen."

"Well, aren't we grouchy today? Someone wake up on the wrong side of her sleeping bag?" I saw the twinkle of mischief in Abigail's eye. She mouthed _Roadkill in her boots_. I grimaced internally. I would not want to be the subject of one of their grudges. "Isis? Is hitchhiking permissible?"

"Only if you have a death wish, O Zombie Queen," replied Isis.

"But I, Queen of Death, have nothing to fear. I control Death. Mwahaha!" cackled Abigail demoniacally.

"Let's move on," suggested Isis. We agreed and fell into loose formation. Isis and Abigail led, Scott and Julian took flank, I was surrounded in the middle, and Maria was our rear guard. We followed the highway, and although we stuck out our thumbs to every car, none of them stopped for us. I wonder why. I mean, why wouldn't anyone stop for six rugged kids with sleeping bags and backpacks who looked like they lived in the woods and were probably very dangerous?

By logging a lot of hours, we made it to Campus Square, Bethlehem, right on the edge of Lehigh University, just as the thunderstorm started. Okay, I thought, surveying the area, where do we go now? "Let's find a bathroom somewhere and clean up so that we don't scare people away," said our All Mighty Leader. So that was how we found ourselves buying new clothes in the university bookstore. "Now we change into this stuff." We met in the patio about ten minutes later, looking all clean and neat. We were all supplied and dressed for whatever the quest would throw at us. After stopping in a few of the little cafe's and bagel places that dotted the area for lunch-slash-dinner, we headed out through the town of South Bethlehem towards the Lehigh River. I cast an anxious glance at the ominous sky.

"Think it'll storm?" said Abigail, panicked.

"Feels like it," answered Julian as if it were the most natural thing in the world to "feel" the weather.

"I don't like this. Let's keep walking," suggested Isis anxiously. There was no joking around now. This was potentially serious. I certainly hoped not, but since when have the gods listened to me? We made it to the river's edge before the cloudburst. Let me tell you, it was the most water I'd ever seen at one time, and I've been in nor'easters in New York. This was absolutely torrential, pouring; it was buckets, cats and dogs. And the thunder was deafening. It was probably the loudest noise I've ever heard, including the Ares campers' war cry and victory yell, and I could've sworn it made the ground shake. Or maybe there was an earthquake, too. But that's not the point. The lightning came at the same time, and pretty nearly damn blinded me. We were soaked within seconds, except Maria, who looked like the cat that swallowed the canary. Even she was miserable after a few minutes. Julian, on the other hand, looked rejuvenated. "What did you say?" shouted Isis over the rising wind. I could barely hear her, and she was right next to me.

"I said, do we try crossing the bridge?" screamed Abigail.

Isis shook her head, though the movement was blurred to us. "Too risky. I'm surprised it's still standing in this." She gestured to our predicament. It was swiftly becoming difficult to see through the sheets of driving rain. Premature night had fallen upon our travels, with the black clouds swirling overhead. I looked away at the city, then turned back to the river.

"Julian!" I shrieked. With a mighty roar, the river overflowed its banks, and the wall of water swept him away. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw flash of green, moving toward him. I realized too late what Maria meant to do.

"Maria, NO! Come back..." ordered Isis, then sighed, "We shouldn't get separated like this. Two of us lost."

"Maria will be fine. She's a daughter of the sea. She'll keep Julian safe. We should worry about ourselves. This isn't natural." Abigail shivered.

"Daughter of the sea, yes. But a cursed one." Isis adopted a leader-like stance. "Everyone stay back from the edge. We'll walk along the river slightly inland." It was a good plan, but alas! one we would never carry out. Right then, another huge wave came up, dragging the rest of us into its cold depths. In the chaos that followed. I grabbed a hold of a hand, I didn't know and didn't care whose. I saw Isis yell "Stay togeth-" before her head went under. The hand slipped from my grasp. A wave tossed me up, and I slid back down, being thrown around like a doll.

The next thing I knew, strong hands were tugging my arms and an urgent voice was saying in my ear, "Hermione, wake up. Are you alive?" and then I was on a raft. It was rubber, one of the ones commercial rafting companies use, with three tubes in the middle. I was so exhausted from my struggle with the river that I passed out. When I awoke again, Maria was pouring nectar down my throat. "Oh, good. You're awake. We have to rescue the others." The storm hadn't abated, and the boat pitched violently, nearly throwing me off. "Anchor your feet under the middle tubes. Sit on the outside."

"The outside?! Are you you crazy?"

"This is no time to argue. Just do it!" I did, and she tossed me a paddle. "And whatever you do, don't let go the end with the T." I didn't need to ask why, because I could see that if that end hit anyone, it could definitely break a nose or some teeth.

After many stressful and dangerous episodes with the raft, we collected everyone. Maria steered somehow, and I, along with whoever else was able, pulled people in. At least they were all conscious except for Scott, who'd hit his head on a boulder. The wound was swelling and oozing blood. We could only feed him nectar and ambrosia and try to stem the flow of blood with our shirts until the storm stopped. And Zeus only knew when that would be...

**AN: The end of chapter 5. I used Bethlehem, PA and Lehigh U. because my brother just graduated from there and I think it's a really cool place. This chapter was written mostly from my experiences rafting on various rivers (Lehigh included) and touring Bethlehem with my brother. Please review, because reviews and fanfics are like Oreos in milk. )I 3 Oreos, by the way.)**


	6. A Chess Game Determines Our Fate

**AN: This one took awhile to write because I got writer's block. (again) Hope you like it.**

After what seemed like an eternity, the wind stopped, the skies cleared, and the raging river transformed into a gentle one. We pulled over to a small sandy beach and pulled the raft up into the trees. Abigail got to work, tying bandages around her brother's bloody head while the Julian found nectar and ambrosia in Maria's beach bag. "We have to take stock of our supplies," announced Isis. "Each person take a bag. Abigail, take Scott's." Mine held a shorted-out flashlight, a dead cellphone, liquidized "waterproof" sunscreen, a broken bar of soap, a water-filled baggy of ambrosia squares, a leaking jar of nectar, a few very wet five dollar bills,a few drachma, nine arrows bound together with a sodden string, a bow, two spare knives in addition to the dagger belted to my waist, a sleeping bag in a waterproof bag (dry, thank the gods), some spare clothes, slightly damp, a dozen bagels and two packs of cheese in a sealed plastic bag, and, amazingly, my still functioning laptop. My bag was a mess. Fifteen minutes later, Isis wanted us to share our findings. "Report. Only things that are useful to us please. No garbage. I'll start. My bag will survive. I have a pack of trail bars, twelve slightly bruised apples, a sweatshirt, my sword, of course, some ripped shirts, and a tube of toothpaste. Maria?"

"My bag will also survive. I have a pack of gum, my spear, a pocketknife, a blanket, a fishing rod and line, and a rain poncho. Julian?"

"Alas! My bag was ripped to shreds beyond repair!"

"Enough drama, boy. Get on with the report," snapped Maria.

"Aye aye, Captain Mermaid. Two frozen bags of ramen, a can of beans, a can of pineapple, a box of raisins, a sword, a knife, a towel, a few socks, and a lock pick." A lock pick? He must've gotten it from the Hermes kids.

"Hey," exclaimed Abigail. "How come he gets to carry most of the food?"

"Because we don't have to worry about me eating it, O Demoness of Gluttony."

"Enough. Abigail, what do you and Scott have?" Isis interrupted Abigail's comeback.

"Both of our backpacks, for one thing. His had everyone's water bottle, six potatoes, a bag of rice, a knife, a whistle, a blanket, a surprisingly large bag of candy, and four pairs of underwear. I have a knife, a shield, a ski coat, a bag of trail mix, and a first-aid kit. Hermione?"

"My backpack, nectar, ambrosia, money, a bow, arrows, two knives, my dagger, a sleeping bag, spare clothes, bagels, cheese, and a laptop."

"Let's stop here for the night. Maria, Smarty, move the raft up more so that it won't be seen. Abigail, find a place to put your brother. He's your responsibility." We hurried up and obeyed her orders, dropping the raft like a brick in the center of the clearing. We piled our supplies together and worked out a sleeping arrangement. Scott would sleep in between the tubes in the raft wrapped in Maria's blanket, called "thwarts", with Abigail in her coat and Julian, who donated his towel to Maria, on either side of him, separated by the large rubber tubes. Isis, Maria, and I stationed around the raft, and everyone except Scott would take a turn at sentry. I had the worst watch, the one right before dawn, when you can't catch up on your sleep and you feel miserable the whole day because of it.

We were too tired to do anything, even cooking, so instead we each had an apple and dozed off. But of course, my dreams couldn't be peaceful. At first, they were. I heard jazz music playing, and smells of coffee and cinnamon buns and brownies filled the air. But then I could see. The scene was a dimly lit cafe somewhere. Outside, I could see flashes of lightning and pitch black skies. The thunder was almost as loud as what I had just been through. A teenager wearing a silver circlet, drenched jeans, a silver rain jacket, and a desperate expression was sitting at a table, chugging down a cappuccino. Next to her was a young woman whose clothes flickered between Greek battle armor and a leather jacket, pounding her fist angrily. A tall woman with gray eyes was having a serious conversation over a chessboard with a twelve year old girl stroking a white wolf that would only be taken for a seeing-eye dog with the help of the Mist. "She has arrived," the woman said gravely. It was Mother. "We must tell her the truth." The other three murmured in agreement. "Very well. My dear, we are in great danger. We need you to hurry. Soon our forces will be overwhelmed and bloodshed will be unavoidable."

"I know you wish to protect your daughter, good sister, but she must know."

"It could destroy her," argued Athena.

"She has the heart of a true maiden. She'll endure. Show her. Our fate depends on it!" urged Lady Artemis.

"Fine. Look, my daughter. This is how the war lies." She shoved the chessboard towards me. Everything else disappeared as either I shrunk or it grew. The only thing that I could hear was Mother's voice and rain pounding on the roof. "Look well, and see the faces of the pieces."

They were no longer white and black chessmen. The black queen became Athena, and her king Poseidon, brandishing his trident. Their bishops were Demeter, holding a bushel of wheat and muttering a benediction for peace, and a young girl holding a torch and an ancient jar; Hestia with Pandora's "box". On either side of them were Lady Artemis, ready for battle, and Clarisse, proving that "armed to the teeth" wasn't just an expression. On the corners of the board were Hades and Hecate. Standing in front of them where the pawns go were Morpheus, Persephone, Iris, Nike, the Hunters of Artemis, Clarisse's squad, Nico, an army of skeletons, Annabeth, Percy, a collection of Cyclopes, Chiron, Isis, Maria, Abigail, Scott, Julian, and me. It was impressive, until I looked across the board.

Zeus and Hera sat in thrones of white marble. Flanking them were a gleeful Eris and a devilishly seductive Aphrodite. Ares cracked a knuckle from his position as a knight, and Apollo looked pleadingly across to his sister, begging her to desert to his side. Janus juggled his ring of keys as his fellow rook, Nemesis, planned her revenge. All of the other minor gods and nature spirits and satyrs stood in front of them. They outnumbered us by like twenty to one. Hephaestus shook his head apologetically and Hermes sighed regretfully. And the biggest shock was in the center of the line, with an evil glare on his face and a lightning bolt in his hand. It was Julian.

Why was one person in two places? I wondered. But as I thought it, I knew. They weren't the same person. They were both Julian, but an unmade choice separated them. Either one could be the real one. But we wouldn't know until he chose. My thoughts were interrupted when Zeus yelled a command and his forces stepped forward until only one row of squares separated the opposing armies.

Then came a series of dizzying images. A golden thread connected the two Julians. The one on Zeus's side reached around and severed it with a sword sparked with electricity. His counterpart on our side dissipated in a cloud of dust. With manic glee and eyes glowing with lightning, he alone destroyed half of our forces. Then the image changed. The Julian that I knew broke the connection. As his doppelganger dissolved, he rushed out into the small space between him and Zeus's front line. Everyone froze. Even Ares was completely still. No one made any move to attack. Slowly, Zeus's army retreated across the board.

"This is what we would like to happen," said Mother softly, making me jump. She waved her hand. Artemis rode forward with the Hunters at her side. They dodged and killed, trapping some, retreating from others. But eventually they reached the thrones. Thalia captured Hera and Artemis stood in front of their father, arrow nocked and at his throat. "Checkmate," whispered Athena. "Now you know why you are so important. You must bring him and reinforcements to us. It is our only hope. You are the world's only hope." As the scene faded, I saw the remaining Julian, my Julian, be replaced by a skeleton lying at the foot of a marble tombstone. With a horrible burst of intuition, I realized that we would win, peace would be assured, but the price would be his life. How could I bring him to his doom? I remembered the prophecy. "_You"ll deliver your friend to the cruel jaws of Fate_."

In the darkness, a voice spoke to me. An amused-sounding female voice. "So you figured it out. Athena and the others don't care about you, or who has to die for them to get what they want. They want the throne of Olympus for themselves."

"No they don't. One of the reasons they oppose Zeus is his plan to kill some of the half-bloods. They care about me!" I shouted back.

"No, dear. That's exactly what they want you to think. They've brainwashed you into believing that rubbish. What loving mother would ignore her daughter for years, ask her to risk her life on a foolish mission, and then allow her true love to be killed for it? Think about that." And then I was left alone.


	7. We Almost Die In A Wildfire

**AN: This will be my last update for a while. I'm going on vacation, but worry not, I will continue this story when I get back. Just don't worry if I don't answer your reviews or post another chapter during the next few weeks. I haven't abandoned it or you.**

I woke up. It was time for my watch. Maria was shaking my shoulders and cursing at me in some weird language to wake up. I yawned and stretched, nearly hitting her in the face, and ambled to the edge of the clearing. Nothing eventful happened, unless you count Abigail's zombie-like sleep-walking. Isis tapped my back, signaling that since she was up I could stop kneeling in the cold mud. It was dawn, the sun barely peeking above the edge of the gorge. Since Scott and Julian still slept, and Abigail had settled back down, I left Maria and Isis to go get some privacy.

I stood at the edge of the river in the cool morning mist, with the sun just showing over the horizon, thinking about the events of the past two days. Had it only been two? As I bent over to wash my face in the river water, I felt the prism in my pocket. Holding it up to the rising sun, I threw a drachma into the light and said, "Great goddess of the rainbow, accept my offering. Show me Camp Half-Blood." In the rainbow, I saw what I recognized as the dining pavilion, but something was wrong. Tables were overturned, food splattered the floor, and smoldering piles of ash dotted the area. Beyond, there was even more destruction. Patches of grass had been burned away. Farther away, where the cabins were, people were fighting in large disorganized mobs. Parts of roofs were missing and small explosion punctuated the roar of weapon strikes, battle cries, curses, and what sounded like heated debates. A haze of multicolored smoke hung over the chaos. My voice shook as I asked a question that no one was around to answer: "What happened here?"

Since everyone at camp was otherwise engaged, I figured no one would be answering me. Time for Plan B. I tossed another drachma into the light, this time asking for Annabeth. She appeared, tired and worried, dark circles under her eyes, wearing the same clothes as when I'd last spoken to her. "Yes? This'd better be important. I have to stop Percy from charging Zeus with his sword."

"Have you seen what's happened at camp?!"

"Unfortunately. Everyone's been taking sides. The Big Three kids are being evacuated and hidden from Zeus's wrath. It's been really tense, and Chiron couldn't control everyone. The Ares and Athena cabins have been at each other's throats for days. They only started fighting last night, though. The Hephaestus kids have been busy, supplying weapons to both sides. It's getting bloody. No one's died yet, thank the gods, though they haven't been helping matters. Zeus is offering big rewards to anyone who joins his side, and our only hope for a mostly peaceful outcome is you. You need to hurry." And then she disappeared.

After that, I woke the others and we decided on what to do next. Short of flying, there was no way to get to Colorado quickly enough. Even the train wouldn't cut it. And flying was out, because of Zeus's lovely temper recently. Unfortunately, no one had a special power that allowed them to appear in a completely different place, taking other people with them, so we were stuck using the train, anxiously chewing off our fingernails, wishing it would go faster.

But two days later, when we were going through Kansas, all Hades broke loose. The lights flickered out, and even though it was mid afternoon, the pitch black sky made it seem like midnight. Then the train slowed down and stopped. People screamed and ran back and forth from window to window, trying to grasp what was going on. I set down the newspaper, still thinking about a disturbing article involving widespread earthquakes across the U.S and small tsunamis swamping Florida. Wildfires had spread to the whole southwest, caused mostly by lightning strikes and volcanoes where there had never been volcanoes before. And although it was devastating, it was nothing compared to what would happen if we didn't succeed in our quest. The train rocked, tipping precariously off the track. "What do we do?" moaned Abigail, panicked. "Are we going to die here?"

"If you die your father will put you in Elysium. I won't be so lucky with mine," snapped Maria.

"Shut up, all of you. This is no time to bicker. We need to get out of here," shouted Isis, trying to maintain her authority. Amazingly, we all listened to her. Even Scott, who had been celebrating his return to consciousness by telling jokes and insulting people at the tops of his lungs, was silent. "Run for the exit, and STAY TOGETHER!" The door was jammed, and Maria had to kick it down. The cars were still swaying as the rumbling grew louder. "We'll have to jump. Ready... now!"

We jumped off, narrowly avoiding being squashed by the train car, which had tipped past the point of no return and fell on its side. People inside screamed louder. "Shouldn't we help them?" asked Julian hesitantly. "They're trapped in there."

"We need to help ourselves first. The employee people are trained to deal with stuff like this. Not us. Get moving." Isis tugged his hand, which tugged my heart, and he followed reluctantly. We had hardly gotten anywhere when the rumbling ended its great crescendo in a large crack in the earth right in front of the stopped train. When we looked back, we saw a large fireball streak down from the sky and hit the spot where we had just been. Zeus was trying to kill us, and what Poseidon's motives for that earthquake were I could only guess. "Run. Now."

We ran, through the pouring rain and growing thunder, chased by flames spreading rapidly across the prairie. The wind whipped in our faces, slowing us down. The rain driving at our eyes was mixed with hail. Despite the raging fire, the temperature had dropped enough to make us freezing cold. A couple times one of us slipped on the wet grass, but the sheets of rain were so thick I couldn't see who. I heard Scott say that he was tired, and Isis snapped back, "D'you want to die here? That's what will happen if you stop and rest." He kept running, but he wouldn't be able to keep up for long. He hadn't fully recovered yet. None of us could keep running indefinitely. The wildfire was gaining, and the wind grew stronger until the rain wasn't falling; it was being blown vertically. The ground became a slick of mud, made slicker by the grass plastered flat by the wind and water. It was impossible. We were doomed.

A rabbit hole, long since abandoned, caught my foot, twisting my ankle. It may have broken, but I wasn't sure over the roaring of the elements. I could feel the heat of the blaze on my back. It felt like a good break from the sleet and hail until sparks began jumping onto my back, singeing my shirt. The rain pinged off the ground, tossing mud in my eyes and mouth. I could hardly see, could barely breathe, and in about a second I was gonna be a pile of ashes. Abigail slipped, and her foot shot behind her, into my head. I tasted blood, saw stars before my eyes. Everything went blurry and out of focus. Time seemed to slow down. Abigail's fall looked like it took an eternity or two. I never saw it end. There was a flash of gold light, then everything went black. For the second time that week, I was certain that the end was nigh. They call me a pessimist, but how would you feel if you were in my place, cheery and optimistic?

Anyway, a series of visions and voices ran through my head: a fierce, familiar-looking woman arguing with a bearded surfer; the same woman, hugely pregnant, pleading with the man, who responded angrily ("That child will be no son of mine. I curse you... and him!"); the woman talking to a little girl ("Hope you never meet another child of Poseidon. They have his favor and you do not."); and Maria with her bag, waving goodbye to the woman, who looked like her. ("I have to go. Maybe I'll find him and convince him to forgive you.") A golden glow seeped into my eyelids. 'What is this?' I thought. 'Hades is supposed to be dark and gloomy.'

I heard the vague sound of raised voices and swords being drawn, along with the sensation of flying, and pain from somewhere near my foot. I shivered and tried to move my hand. It worked. I felt something warm; a hand, an arm. Next I tried blinking, and saw a geometric patterned carpet moving beneath me. To my left was an arm, muscular and dripping wet, with a strange golden watch around its wrist. To my right was a mass of sodden dark hair. A strong hand held my shoulder and a smaller hand grasped my ankle. "Let's put them on the bed." I didn't recognize the voice. I closed my eyes, and felt myself being lowered onto a soft blanket, face up. I concentrated on ignoring the pain and thinking about what had happened. I had just been struck unconscious for the second time in a week, and both times someone else had to save me. Why couldn't I just stay awake, for Athena's sake! The moment I asked, I knew why: the gods wanted to show me stuff in dreams, and for dreams I had to be not awake. But why would they want me to see people's pasts? I'd figure it out later. For now I would find out why people were fighting.

I sat up and saw Isis, Maria, Julian, Scott, and the stranger with the golden watch debating about something with swords drawn and practically at each other's throats. "What's happening?"

"_He_," Isis shook her sword in the direction of watch-boy, "shows up and expects to come with us, just like that. No questions asked. I can't allow that."

"You did for me," I reminded her.

"But I knew you. I knew I could trust you. I don't _him_, and he refuses to tell us anything." She threw him a dirty look before glaring at me. "And I may be starting to regret the decision to include you."

"Maybe you're just asking the wrong questions," added Maria logically. We swung around to gape at her. "Look at it this way: I wouldn't answer, either, with the things you've been asking. And the way you act like you're interrogating terrorists isn't exactly the most encouraging."

"Could we stop talking about him like he can't understand us. Because I think he actually can," remarked watch-boy, dry humor in his voice. "Why don't we try with asking him his name? It happens to be Crius, in case you were wondering. He is also one of the half-bloods mentioned in the Great Prophecy and has his own prophecy for this quest, one of the parts of which mentions him traveling with you."

"We know who he is now. Just let him come with us. And anyway, if it comes to a fight, the six of us can beat one of him," Julian reasoned. "C'mon."

"Fine," sighed Isis, defeated. "One more question: who is your immortal parent?"

"You won't like it."

"Just tell me."

"Okay."

"Well... who is it?"

"You're really not going to like it." I had a sneaking suspicion I knew who it was, I did not like it. I prayed to every god who didn't hate me that I was wrong.

"I don't care. I need to know," she said impatiently.

"Who my immortal parent is?

"Yes. Hurry up and tell me," she snapped, exasperated.

"You asked for it." He shrugged. "Unfortunately for me, I am Crius L'Hora, son of Cronus." The silence that fell was thicker then the storm clouds outside. I was right.

**AN: Heyo. I tried to answer some of my own complaints about this story in this chappie, and I also used one of Tamora Pierce's (SHE IS AN AMAZING AUTHOR) tips for getting over writer's block: write a scene with a new character that forces the others to react. Crius was originally supposed to some in later, but I used him now. ****For those writer's block tips, go to Tamora Pierce's website, and go to the FAQ page. Somewhere along there is "How do you deael with writer's block?" Hope it helps some of you fellow writers out there.**

**Also, a few moments in this chapter were based off other books. The part when the train stops was inspired by the scene is HP: Prisoner of Azkaban when the dementors board the train to look for Sirius Black and Harry passes out. The conversation between Crius and Isis. (You're really not going to like it) is from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy when the people are trying to get Deep Thought to tell them the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything. (They didn't like it either) I changed some of the words but it's basically the same thing.**


	8. We Incur the Wrath of Apollo

What just happened: _"You asked for it." He shrugged. "Unfortunately for me, I am Crius L'Hora, son of Cronus." The silence that fell was thicker then the storm clouds outside. I was right._

Then, unlike in the cliches, everyone did not start talking at once. Isis nudged Maria. "Do you _really_ still want him to come with us?" Maria told her to shut up. Julian shrugged; Scott laughed, but sarcastically, as if he didn't truly believe it; Abigail snorted, "And that makes no sense. As we all know, Kronos has been in Tartarus for the past eleven years or so. Therefore it's impossible for him to have a son. Honestly. The things people say to get attention." But it made sense. All of it. The strange watch, the blond hair, the curved sword held limply at his side, the golden light, the way time slowed when he must've rescued us. And his eyes. I had been pretty sure they were blue, at least when I first saw him, but now they were gold. Crius really was a child of Kronos. Yeah, say that ten times fast.

"Listen," I said. "It is possible." I knew the stories, the stories of Kronos' rise to power, of the war that stopped him from taking over the world. "But why don't you tell us yourself?" I asked Crius.

"'Cause you won't like it." Always the optimist.

"You've said that before. It's getting repetitive. Don't you have more than one response?" demanded Scott.

"But he has a point. We didn't like it last time," muttered Isis. "But I still need to know..." The air in front of us shivered, blurring the flower print wallpaper. Everyone reached for weapons, and Isis whispered something that created a shimmering barrier in between us and the disturbance. And something I'd never noticed before: her eyes sparkled blue-violet when she did that. The blur formed into the figure of a young woman, with curly red hair and green eyes... oh no. Why was _she_ here? She had to come now, with more of her cryptic prophecies of death and doom. Like, if I can't change the future, why get me depressed about it in the mean time? I'll never understand the gods.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the Oracle of Delphi, stepped into the room. "I thought I'd never get away. Lord Apollo is trying to prevent me from giving you prophecies, on orders from the almighty Zeus, of course." She tossed the four wallets that I had seen before, the ones that contained the Great Prophecy, to Maria, Scott, Julian, and Abigail. "So? Ask your question."

Scott and Abigail looked at each other like, _What in Hades are we supposed to do? _Maria bit her lip, and Julian blurted out, "What's going to happen to me?" She started to change, like before. Her voice went rough and green light streamed from her eyes.

"_Two silent wars fought, one of love, one of hate_

_In your bloody past, you'll discover your fate_

_A choice to be made for the peace of the land,_

_And a choice about those who vie for your hand."_

"Jeez. I wouldn't want to be you. Bloody past. Choices. Silent wars," commented Abigail.

Scott disagreed. "'Those who vie for your hand.' That means multiple girls like you. That's sweet."

"Shush. We haven't heard our prophecies yet. Maria?" Abigail deferred.

"Er... okay. I've got one." Her dark blue-green eyes shifted nervously. "Will I ever be at peace with my parents?" Rachel's hard expression softened like she understood. It could've been my imagination, but I swore I saw a tear in her eye. Maybe I'm hallucinating after getting a freaking concussion, but I don't know.

"_The loner shall lead when her father will call_

_She will fight for her life, for her god give her all_

_When tragedy strikes, her tears will fast fall_

_And victory shall be hers, in large and in small."_

Well. Better then mine. At least she gets victory in the deal. I get to fail and lose a friend, but she loses someone and succeeds. Abigail and Scott put their dark heads together and came up with something to ask the Oracle. Abigail asked, "What is my quest?"

"_They come for their friends, twins of the of night_

_The princess of darkness for truth she will fight..."_

Rachel's voice stopped as if her throat was blocked. She heaved like she was about to spit out a hairball. She grabbed the pen that lay on a table nearby, and wrote the rest of the prophecy in thin, jerky handwriting, so different from her regular script. More reasons why not to be the Oracle. It said:

_The prince battles for protection of his realm_

_Preventing the theft of the shadow's helm_

_She will save the day, at such a cost_

_A power gained, something greater lost._

Or that's what I later read, after several tries and battles with my dyslexia.

Then she whispered, desperately, "Lord Apollo blocked my voice so I couldn't tell you. He'll be angry. I must go." And with that she disappeared. So she shows up, gives us more questions than answers, gets a powerful god angry at us, and leaves. Thanks a lot, spirit of Delphi!

We were not given long to ponder the potentials of the prophecies, because when you get a god ticked off, he doesn't let you prepare for his revenge. A huge snake, as long as the basilisk in _Harry Potter_ and as wide as a great blue whale, with fangs the size of my leg, burst through a window showing the stormy sky and showered us in glass shards. Guess the owner hadn't invested in safety glass, if only so the shards were less-sharp cubes. Someone screamed. The serpent's head spun around. I yelled, "Oi, snake-eyes!" and waved my arms. It coiled up, prepared to strike at me. I was still wearing my new jacket, the one that turned me invisible. I pressed the owl pin and jumped as far as I could. It exhaled, like it was sighing, but great clouds of black smoke billowed from its slit nostrils. In a few seconds, I could barely see two feet in front of me. Holy Olympus. This was _not_ good. The Python of Delphi was trying to kill us. I drew my borrowed practice dagger, letting the celestial bronze glow slightly alleviate the darkness.

"How do we kill this thing?!" That was Maria. Then she cursed. "How did it see me?"

_It didn't, it's a snake; it can smell you, feel vibrations from your movement, _and _it can "see" __heat. _But the killing part was more difficult. The last one to kill the Python was Apollo himself with his famous godly bow. As none of us were gods, Hunters of Artemis, or children of Apollo, we needed to try another tactic. I called out, "I'll distract it. Force the head down and aim for the eyes!" A blackish-brownish tail the size of a tree branch nearly decapitated me, but it gave me an idea. Hoping very much not to die, I grabbed the tail the next time it swung around, stabbing my dagger through the thick scales, and held on for dear life.

I heard the tinkling of a chandelier, then a thud and "Ow" in Crius's dry voice. The head, which had been swinging towards me, gave a sudden dip down. There was an inhuman shriek of pain, and the serpent reared, crashing through the ceiling and the roof and plummeting through the floorboards to the concrete foundation. The tail thrashed, banging me against a wall. I considered letting go and using my momentum to carry me to the top of some tall cabinets I'd spotted earlier. Too risky. I still couldn't see a thing. I twisted the blade. The Python gave a bellow of pain and rage. I released the dagger and dove, clinging to the very tip of the tail. Those giant fangs sunk into its flesh, exactly where I had just been. Unfortunately, pythons, not even monstrous ones, are not venomous, so this one didn't die when it bit itself. They kill by squeezing things to death.

The tail began to coil up around me. I stabbed out with my knife but it was no more then a pinprick. I climbed, wriggled, pried, braced, everything, but nothing helped. The Python was stronger. Its inexorable strength was going to defeat me. Even as I hacked at the scales I could feel my breath slipping away, my lungs being constricted. I gasped for air desperately, but my struggles grew weaker. The great snake twitched, causing the coils to tighten, but then they fell limp. With a few shudders, the Python fell, quite loudly, to the floor and disintegrated into monster dust and a couple extra-large scales. The wind from the storm blew the smoke away but brought in the rain.

I collapsed, panting, with a pain in my ankle, (probably sprained from my fall in a rabbit hole) my ribs, (several bruised, if not broken) and my back. Gingerly, I felt the newly injured section that covered most of my back. Ouch. I'd have a major crop of bruises tomorrow. Then I felt blood dripping down my arm. The skin of my right shoulder was almost entirely scraped off. Apparently while I was being squeezed to death, I was pressed against the dagger. Someone passed me a canteen of nectar, which I drank gratefully. Liquid fire coursed through my veins, and I felt well enough to want to get up and kill something.

I got up and walked over to where the others were gathered, surveying what used to be a kitchen-den in the process. One partially demolished door probably led to the outside world. The other door led to the bedroom where I had been deposited. Abigail looked like a rose bush attacked her and Crius looked like he'd been through a cheese grater. The others looked normal, as normal as one can be after fighting a giant snake. As I approached the group, Julian was saying, "Shouldn't we get out of the rain? I'm wet!"

"No, really?" I said, drenching my voice in sarcasm. "Let's move inside, shall we?" Maria scowled at me; apparently she didn't mind the wetness like us normal folk.

Isis sighed. "C'mon. There's an wood fireplace in the other room." We all huddled around the warmth, eating potatoes and bagels we toasted over the fire. It was a quiet meal, with Isis more withdrawn then usual, Maria in an angry silence, Scott busy stuffing his face, and Abigail and Crius barely conscious. At last Isis spoke. "Today I came very close to... to dy... to breaking my oath. I-"

"What do you mean, you came close to dying? We all did!" burst out Maria angrily, as I said, "Close to dying? Get used to it, lady." Blame our ADHD. Anyway.

"A while ago, when I first started to travel with the twins... No, I'm not starting this right. I should start at the beginning. I lived with my dad. When I was ten, a satyr and three half-bloods showed up. The satyr could tell who I was, and took me with them. One of them was thirteen, one eleven, and one was my age. The half-bloods, I mean. The youngest one was nicer and I thought..." She paused, her face unreadable. I squirmed mentally, fighting the urge to ask her what happened; she'd talk when she was ready, and I'd do no good by rushing. Finally she continued. "The satyr was killed. We were fighting a Cyclops. One of the evil ones. They could've saved him... but they were too busy saving their own lousy skins. After that, I didn't trust them. They'd let a friend die, and they didn't seem to care. Things were rough. We were moving slowly, running out of food and supplies. One morning I woke up, and they were gone. They'd left."

"You don't know that for sure. They could've been taken or kil-" She shook her head.

"I followed them. I caught up fairly quickly. They were fighting a giant scorpion. I killed it just as it was about to kill them. I got stung. They left me. They just left me lying there. Said that their own lives meant more to them then mine. That I wasn't worth the trouble for them to save me. I would've died... But another couple half-bloods came along. On a quest. They saved me and got me home, but they gave me a card with the address of Camp Half-Blood, in case there was trouble."

"I went home, but I swore on the River Styx that I'd never let anyone I traveled with die. My dad welcomed me back. Everyone else labeled me a troublemaker and a runaway. I had a couple close friends who didn't care. The "tough kids" wanted me to hang out with them. Then two new kids came. Scott and Abigail. I'll let them tell their story themselves-"

"Dan rahsh ooh ih," inserted Scott. He swallowed a large mouthful of food. "I mean, damn right you will."

She gave a brief sad smile before continuing. "I watched them. I knew they were important half-bloods. I finally convinced them to come with me. And today. Today so many of you came close to being killed. I almost failed you."

"Nonsense. If I die it's my own fault and no one else's. Don't blame yourself," yawned Crius.

"If it was only you in danger, I wouldn't," she retorted icily. She pushed a strand of dark hair out of her face. "But I will never let what happened to me happen to anyone else." I felt chills run up my spine that had nothing to do with the wetness. Those jerks left her to die after she saved their lives. No wonder she's sad all the time. That's horrible. But it reminded me of something.

"Your prophecy. If you break your oath, it said you'll die, right?"

"None of your business. I... yeah, it did."

"What exactly did it say? You could be misinterpreting," suggested Abigail.

"Uh,_ You'll lead the chosen to a garden of gods, bind them together in spite of all odds. By your __oath you will- _No, that's enough for you to know. Good night." She rolled over so that her back was towards us and faked snoring, but as she turned I saw a teardrop glittering on her cheek.

"Well, that was lovely sharing of feelings," snorted Maria derisively. "You'd better not ask me to do the same." She meandered over a patch of floor to claim it as hers. Julian shrugged.

"So that's why she's so overprotective. Figures." He leaned closer to me and whispered, "I call her Mother when she starts nagging us about saying safe. She hates it."

"I heard that," she murmured softly. I stared. _I_ could barely hear him and yet she could from where she was! No one else seemed to think this was at all unusual, and I knew it wasn't that my hearing was going. I let the others have the bed and found a blanket to curl up on. As I dozed off, I noticed Crius gazing sadly at Isis's back, shaking his head slowly.

"I suppose you'll never forgive me, no matter how bad I feel about it."

In my dream, I was in a grassy area with red rocks and short, scrubby trees all around. It was pouring, and thunder rumbled in the distance. A strange collection of people sat around two soaked picnic table. A woman in a park ranger's uniform with eyes the color of the clouds overhead -the color of my eyes- was deep in discussion with a tired-looking man in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts, his dark hair shot with silver. Two girls about my age, one with auburn hair and incredibly old eyes, the other small with mousy hair, were arguing with a tall dark man, his face hidden by shadows. Next to him were a young woman bedecked with flowers and an older lady with a dress that seemed to be made of wheat. A teenaged girl in punk clothes and a silver circlet and an angry young woman armed to the teeth listened to a pale woman with hair the same dark red color as Iris's, her eyes sparkling with electric blue magic. A man in a dark, sinister trench coat with a hat over his face stood off to the side.

Mother Athena stood up. "Silence. I would like to start this meeting now. Mr. DiAngelo, your report, please."

Nico appeared out of a shadow next to his father. "Sure. I spied on Zeus's forces, and I have four pieces of news. Do you want to hear first, the bad, the worse, the even worse, or the worst?" Catching the look on Athena's stormy face, he said, "Okay, okay. The bad news is that they are sending Phobos to stop the quest. The worse news is that they're sending Deimos to New York City to terrorize all the people, including camp. The even worse news is that Ares is going to lead an army at dawn to Hades and loose the dead upon the world."

"Which entrance is he using?" asked Hades.

Nico looked at him. "The New York one." He gave his father a look that said, "Tell you later."

Athena didn't miss it. "We'll _all_ discuss it later. Now back to the matter at hand."

"The worst news of all is that Eris is being sent to the meeting of representatives of the major world leaders to start a major mortal war." The air erupted in speculations, curses, and proposals. In the midst of it all, I heard Athena mutter, "I doubt Eris has been sent by anyone but herself."

Hestia cut off Demeter's reply. "We've been through this before. It's highly unlikely that she would be able to influence Zeus into doing what he did, and until we're out of danger the matter will have to wait." The authority in her voice seemed odd in such a small girl.

"We have no time to fight amongst ourselves. Everyone calm down," yelled Lady Artemis over the din. Once things settled down, she asked, "Where is Iris?"

"Taking our preposition of peace to Lord Zeus," replied Athena. "And-"

"Actually, I'm right here," came a musical voice from a shining rainbow. "Lord Zeus told me to tell you to stuff your prepositions. He thinks that it's a trap. I also brought your message to his followers. None of them could be convinced. All said they wanted to be on the winning side of the war."

"Even my brother?" asked Artemis, her stern voice wavering just a little.

"Even Apollo. He said to tell you that he's sorry and that you really should join him."

"He's a jerk but... anyway. Anything else to say?" Iris shook her head. "Next; Lord Poseidon, anything to report?"

"There have been an unusual amount of storms over the oceans, but that is to be expected. I stopped a squad of various monsters traveling on a train with the questing group with an earthquake."

"They have found the seventh member of their group and are safe for now. My daughter has done well. The Oracle has told everyone their prophecies, and they survived being attacked by the Python," reported Athena. "Uncle Hades, what have you to say?"

"I wish to send half of our force to Hades to stop the invasion."

Athena paused, thinking it over. "No. We can't spare that many of our people. I will, however, give you a squad of half-bloods. Send one of your children to command the dead to ambush the invasion force."

Hades' face darkened even more, but he complied. "Nico, go. You're in charge." It wouldn't be enough. But looking at Hecate, I had an idea. Her assorted demons were on our side now, since she had allied with Hades. They wouldn't be missed by Athena, and they could help. And the Kindly Ones could be called upon to defend their territory. As if I had spoken out loud, Athena cocked her head, as if to say "Hm, possibly."

She reached a decision. "Hecate, can your demons assist Mr. DiAngelo to defend Hades?" She nodded. "Hades, call the Kindly Ones to help as well. Iris, tell Mr. Windsor and Miss Blackthorn to ready their cabin-mates." I recognized those names. Paul Windsor and Melanie Blackthorn were the Poseidon and Hades counselors at camp. Iris, Nico, and Hecate disappeared, each in their own way. (Rainbow, shadow, or blue-violet sparks.) The man in the trench coat lifted his hat, and I found I couldn't see his face; it kept shifting and shimmering- then the scene dissolved.

I was inside a thundercloud. Don't ask me how I knew, I just _knew_. It was dark inky gray, and the only light came from strands of lightning that flickered about. Standing (On what? No idea. It defies the laws of nature.) around a map of the U.S were Zeus in his pinstripe suit, Ares in full battle armor, two big ugly dudes in gangster-like clothes with Ares' flaming eyes, and a woman with an absurdly evil smile. Now, dealing with monsters that disguise as humans for a while, I've seen lots of evil smiles and heard lots of evil laughs in my day. But this woman had it down to an art, like Evil with the capital E. Even in the dream I could feel the auras of the gods and goddess. There was power, so much that I wanted to bow down to it, anger, like I wanted to punch someone's face in, fear, and from the goddess, I saw every flaw my friends and my parents had. I felt like I wanted to get in their faces about everything and make them change the way they were. All combined, it was generally not a good feeling.

Zeus tapped on a spot on the map. "The half-bloods are here. They will be unprepared. Keep them from reaching here at all costs. You may all go, if you wish, and send the army and Apollo on ahead. It's not too far out of the way for any of you. Get moving." And then I woke up.

**AN: Gods, that took forever. I was on vacation in Washington state and Colorado, my computer had a virus, and I had soccer camp. Yes, I know the chapter's long, but you'll live. It had to be like that. I'd like to thank Stef.235 for enjoying this story.**

**Now, please review. I want your theories and predictions. What did Crius do to Isis? What are the last two lines of her prophecy? What do any of the prophecies mean? What will happen next? Tell me your thoughts. I'll answer you the best I can without revealing too much.**


	9. We Have Anger Management Issues

**AN: Thanks to Stef.235 and the anonymous lori for their reviews and encouragement. Also thanks to JasperDavis. And lori, thank you for helping me with the chapter title (albeit unintentionally). I now present:**

**We Have Anger Management Issues**

My eyes shot open, staring wildly up at the water-stained ceiling. I rolled over and clambered to my feet, reliving every moment of the dream, fixing it in my memory. "We have to stop them." Beside me in the semi-darkness, Crius sat bolt upright, hand on his sword hilt (Did he never take it off, even when he was sleeping?).

"Stop who, Nia?" he half-yawned, staggering towards me, narrowly missing Abigail's head with his big feet.

"Ares, Eris, and Ares' sons. One happy family." Minus Aphrodite and her brood. Thank whatever gods were on out side that they hadn't been included in the war party.

"What do they want?" he mumbled, blinking the remnants of sleep out of his now-blue eyes.

"I was just getting to that, Watch Boy. They want to make New York freak out, the dead to fight for them, and World War Three to break out. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. They also want to kill us." I watched his expression change from confusion to fear to anger/determination.

"They'll get nowhere near us," he growled, looking at Isis. Oh, honestly. As if that could impress her. Yet part of me, the irrational part that I was trying to squash, whispered that if she fell for him, I would be free to get-. I told myself to shut up before that little parasitic thought took over my brain. I prodded Abigail with my toe. She would be less prickly to wake up then Isis or Maria. Hopefully. As it turns out, she was just as bad, just slightly less vocal about it. Note to Self: never volunteer for waking-up duty _ever_ again.

It was around six A.M. when we went on our way, pausing to steal some instant oatmeal from the house we kind of destroyed. The sky was still all dark and rumbling and heavily misting. The path of the fire was marked in ash mixed with mud, littered with wind-blown junk burnt to a crisp. Something caught my eye and I picked it up, wiping the sludge off so I could see the whole thing. It was a bronze figurine of seven horses pulling a chariot, partially melted by the inferno. "What's that?" said Maria, customary anger in her voice, probably at me "wasting time". I handed it to her, and she dropped it, muttering, "Useless."

"We can't just walk the rest of the way. It will take forever. What do we do?" demanded Abigail. The loud whinnying of a horse stopped us in our tracks. "What in Hades is that?" It was a chariot, pulled by seven pitch-black horses identical to the figurine except that the chariot now looked like multiple people could fit in it. Ordinary Greek chariots fit two people maximum, but this one was big enough for the entire Athena cabin.

"Did you hear them?" That was Maria, but her tone was doubtful, maybe even slightly scared.

"Hear what?" Isis was the first to ask what we all wanted to know.

"The horses. They talked to me. They said _Lady, we will help you_."

The horses talked to her, and she was visibly shaken. Both scary thoughts. "Did you forget to take your medicine? For schizophrenia. Hearing voices, you know." Some of her old anger returned to her eyes to glare at me. "Never mind, never mind. Let's go." We climbed into the chariot, and I hoped Maria could control the horses. If not, we were in big trouble. Turns out we were in big trouble anyway, because four figures appeared next to us nearly giving me a heart attack. And the feeling from the dream returned, except stronger.

Ares gave a wicked grin and said, "I'm gonna kill you now."

Well, because his freaking aura was so full of anger and violence and generally bad things that were messing with our minds, we weren't very happy about that. "That's what you think," said Maria. I could've slapped her, and almost did. "Just try it."

He smiled again. "Yeah, I think I will. Bring it on." And so she leaped out of the chariot and landed right in front of a ten-foot tall man with major muscles and two two-foot long double-bladed swords. Maria's scary sharp deadly spear looked suddenly fragile. I drew my knife and dagger and crouched into fighting position. Behind me, I heard the strangely musical sound of Crius's scimitar sliding from its sheath. The ugly woman next to Ares (Eris) smiled at us, but it wasn't a nice smile. It was more of the condescending you're-so-pathetic-I-won't-even-bother-killing-you smile. Isis pounced, but not on Eris. Crius swung around, his blade a golden arc of death. Thinking about it after, I realized that that really wasn't his normal behavior. It was Discord. He was trying to kill her, the girl that he had cried over just the night before, and vowed to protect.

"Come with us. Forget your useless friends and their loser gods. They'd only betray you." It was the voice from my dream, urging my to give up. And now Eris was after Julian. With a metallic swish, Abigail swept her knife through the space where Eris had stood, but she wasn't there anymore. "I'll get you later," she hissed at him, nimbly dodging Abigail's second strike.

I heard Isis yelp, then scream, "You ******* b******!". I spun around. Blood was flowing freely from a cut on her forearm, but she attacked viciously and screamed curses, punctuating each one with a jab or slash of her sword. Crius's face was strangely blank, his eyes glowing gold. He hissed various insults under his breath. He drew back and they began circling each other, like wolves about to fight. Just as they lunged, I stepped in between them, catching the blows on the hilts of both my blades.

I let out the breath that I had been holding. "Guys, calm down. Whatever happened, now is not the time. We have other enemies." Shock and confusion registered on both faces, but they twirled around, swords once again seeking each other's heart. I remember falling and rolling clear of the combatants, but that's about it.

Ares and Maria were still dueling, but Abigail, Scott, and Julian knelt, cowering, on the ground. The two big ugly guys were laughing like the freaks and maniacs they were. At that point, I felt a burst of hatred that had nothing to do with Ares. Abigail's face was stained with tears, and she was sobbing, "No, get away from me." Scott looked literally petrified and Julian's eyes darted around wildly, but I could tell he wasn't really seeing what was happening. Maria was holding her own, but her breathing was becoming frenzied and she had her trapped-animal face on. Crius's form was slipping, as was Isis's, as they became desperate, terrified even. The scene before me began melting away. I was crouched in a pit, with steep rocky walls, like a well or something. There was water seeping up around my feet and oozing from the walls. A couple small chunks of rock became dislodged and tumbled down towards me. When I tried to move my feet, the mud squelched and sunk them deeper. The sky overhead was ominous with the threat of a storm. A cool dank breeze stirred up the smell of things rotting underground and blood. I began to feel a tickling sensation running up my back and my legs like thousands of tiny feet. I saw nothing. Then I starting feeling it on my arms and head. It felt like spiders, which I hate because I am arachnophobic. Whenever I see spiders, I freeze and my mind goes into hyper alert total panic mode. All because of some silly contest between Arachne and my mom that resulted in Arachne being turned into a spider with a taste for revenge. I put a hand on the slimy rock wall, causing a shower of loose earth. Above me, huge figures appeared with the bodies of giant, terrifying, hairy spiders and the heads of humans.

_Spidrens_. _But I thought they weren't real_. You wouldn't think you'd be hearing that from a demigod, but see, I read a lot, even if I have to get a satyr to translate something into Ancient Greek first. And in this fantasy series (that really is fantasy, not like my story) there are these spider-human hybrids called spidrens. They are not from Greek mythology, and I held onto that thought. _They can't be real. They can't be real._ I fumbled for my knife, just to have a weapon in my hands. But there was really no way out. Monsters that couldn't be real surrounded me from above, ready to kill me should I survive the climb up a crumbling cliff, I couldn't control my limbs anyway because of the invisible spiders dancing around on my skin, and to top it off, if I didn't do something soon it wouldn't matter anyway because I was sinking at an astonishing rate. But I had to try. And I was here in this Pit of Torture because I had failed, and somehow I knew that as I held the knife aloft, searching the walls for a solid handhold. One of the invisible spiders reached my ear, and I reached up to squash it, but as I did so, I dropped the knife.

Pain shot through my foot, which I shouldn't have felt through all the quicksand. But my vision was quickly dissolving, to be replaced by the Kansas prairie and my friends. The only thing that remained was the pain in my foot. My knife was skewering the first two toes on my right foot, sending jolts of pain through my leg. This would make walking interesting. I yanked the knife out of my shoe, wincing as fresh pain rippled through my nerves. There would be time to examine it later. I wiped the blood off my knife onto the dead grass. Now was time to steel my mind and block out distractions. It was time to fight.

I flew at Eris, cackling away madly. She yelped in surprise and pulled a blade from the air. It was evil looking, dried blood crusted along its rusty iron surface. The pommel was an odd shape, like an apple jaggedly split in two. Like a broken heart. She feinted and lunged at my left side, still laughing wildly, but I parried the blow and stabbed at her chest. She blocked it with a rusty, bloodstained iron shield she'd conjured up and pulled out a dart made of a dull metal, possibly lead. I recognized it, but couldn't place what it was or why.

"Like my arrow, little girl? I borrowed it from Eros, as a little family favor. It's his lead arrow of hate. One touch and you'll despise the first person you see, even if you love them." Well, I wouldn't let it touch me. I was more determined then I'd ever been before. I stabbed quicker, blocked stronger, and fought harder, somehow still keeping my head. It was like one part of my mind stood back to analyze things while everything else was all adrenaline and instinct. Finally I saw an opening, and I lunged, slicing her shoulder. A deep, biting wound oozed ichor, the blood of the gods. Her face was the epitome of hatred. She gave me one last, long look before disappearing. Off hand, my mind was putting Eros and arrows and irrationality together and coming up with Aphrodite screwing with me, probably as revenge for my mother being able to defy her. That could wait until after this quest, though.

No longer laughing, the two big ugly guys, who I knew were Phobos and Deimos, fear and terror, pulled out black maces, studded with celestial bronze spikes. "Seems you've found a way to conquer your fears, little girl, but it never hurts to try again..." I was momentarily back in the well with the spiders, but I bit my lip hard and held on to the pain. The bigger guy, who I assumed was Deimos, said, "That's cool. We can still beat you up. Maybe that will bring terror to your heart, little girl."

"Would you stop calling me little girl?" I snarled. They circled, taunting me and saying, "Stupid little girlie." From the corners of my eyes, I made out Isis and Crius advancing, coming up next to me. Even though they were probably both horribly injured, they had decided to fight the real enemy. After that I lost track of them, except for a few golden streaks and brilliant blue-violet sparks.

"I'm not afraid of you. You're just big cowards who hide behind people's fear of you. I bet you can't actually fight. And you know what? You can't even come up with good insults. Like, little girl? How lame is that?" Maybe antagonizing two guys at least twice your size who also happen to be immortal isn't usually a good idea, but I just wanted to get the fight over with. They were going to attack me eventually, so they might as well do it now, instead of them picking the time. And besides, angry fighters fight reckless. They lunged in, charging blindly. I sidestepped, missing Phobos with my knife as he went by, because he twisted right into Crius's sword. I ducked around to prick his thigh. He stabbed at me, but I flitted under his arm and drew ichor near his hip. I stepped back and ducked a blow from Deimos. Phobos overextended, trying to bash my head in, and I chopped at his hand, slicing off the tip of his thumb. I dove to the ground, avoiding the burst of light as he took his true godly form and exited the battle.

I touched the pin that allowed me to turn invisible and sneaked up behind Deimos so he wouldn't see my footprints coming towards him. Of course, he was so stupid he might not have even noticed, but why take the risk? "My brother may have been a wimp who couldn't stand his own blood, but I'm not. It'll take longer to vanquish _me_." Oh, really? I stabbed him in the back and he swung around, meaty fist narrowly missing my face. He must've known I was distracted, because he took advantage of it. Pure terror shot through me like the pain had. Most of the cells in my body wanted to bolt and run away. I froze, trembling as I battled myself to stay and fight. I forced myself to calm down and think, resisting the urge to flee.

"Hey, ugly, come and get me. I'm right here." I jumped up and down in the mud, causing it to splash up. Deimos brought his mace crashing down, but I wasn't there anymore. Unfortunately, the edge of my coat snagged against one of the spikes and it pulled off. Now Deimos could see me. He lunged, swinging his mace in powerful strikes. I backed up, ducking and jumping to avoid his blows, when I discovered that I was backing up right into the back of Ares, which he would not appreciate. I swerved and maneuvered, looking for an opening while trying not to get killed. As Deimos's mace streaked towards me and I rushed to block it, my bad foot gave out and I slipped in the mud, sliding into Ares's ankles.

"Whoa! What's that?" He looked down, puzzled, and I saw Maria scamper off during his distraction. _Thanks a lot, friend._ "Hey, that's cool. You're laying at my feet and asking me to kill you." _Not yet._ I scrambled to my feet, keeping my eyes on both immortal opponents. I stood, tensed, leaning on one foot to alleviate the agony, my breathing heaving like a dying fish. Ares swung, and I dove out of the way at the last minute, rolling back to my foot to see him nearly stab his son. Deimos stumbled back and I took advantage of the moment to slash out at him.

He grunted, "This involves getting hurt too much. I'm out," and tossed his mace behind his shoulder as he left. I resisted the urge to yell 'Coward', which would most likely incite him to stay and fight. Julian, Abigail, and Scott straightened up slowly, like they were just waking up. The twins nodded and shifted into a fighting stance, shoulder to shoulder. Julian just charged in. Isis was futilely struggling to get up against the dead weight of Deimos's mace. I don't remember much of that fight, just the end, because I had to devote all of my energy to blocking Ares's attacks. Eventually Crius and I were the only ones still standing, and both almost worn down, with barely enough strength left.

Then the area behind Ares erupted in whinnies and hooves as the first few horses pulling the odd chariot reared up and thrashed their legs at him. He did the natural thing and backed up. I stuck my leg out and he tripped, falling on his butt with a huge squelch in the mud. Crius leveled his sword at his throat. "This isn't the last you'll see of me, insolent half-bloods," he declared, then I looked away as he started to glow. Once I was no longer fighting, I started taking notice of my injuries, and collapsed on the ground, my feet no longer able to support me. My jacket lay trampled in the mud nearby. I fumbled with the button, searching for the squashed ambrosia squares. I ate one, savored the rich, sweet taste for a few seconds, then steeled myself to examine my toes.

My shoe was drenched in blood, ripped where the knife hit it. A deep cut sliced across my big and second toes, just below the first joint, clear to the bone. Gingerly, I peeled of the shoe. Even that small motion caused agony. While I was doing that, the others had formed a loose circle of the ground next to me, and someone had dropped my pack off within reaching distance. I stretched and snagged my bottle of nectar. After having a quick sip and feeling the burning energy flood through me, I dripped a little on my toes. I knew it was dangerous to put so much into my body, but I needed to be able to walk. I doubted that flimsy band-aids would do much, but I put two on anyway. I cut off strips of cloth from an extra shirt to bandage my foot, held on by a slimy sock. I sliced open the toe of my right shoe and hacked off the damaged parts to make room for the bandages. Around me, the others were engaged in similar activities.

"Why were they here?" asked Isis.

"They were trying to kill us on their way to New York City. They want to cause a huge mortal war and free all of the dead from Hades."

"Then we should stop them," decided Abigail.

"But we're already on a quest," Maria reminded her.

"Then let Scott and I go." He nodded. "We really should do this."

Maria turned her back and murmured softly to the horses. "Have you given any thought to how you'll get there in time?" she demanded, wheeling around at Abigail and Scott, who shrugged. "I thought not," she smirked in that irritating smug way she has. "It just so happens that I spoke with the horses and two of them will carry you to New York."

Julian snorted. "Horseback isn't fast enough."

"Oh, really? Shows how much you know. I can arrange for instant transportation." She cut two of the horses out of their bronze and leather traces with the blade of her knife. "Get on, you two. We'll continue on to Colorado to save the world while you guys save New York." The mocking edge in her voice was more than I expected. Looking slightly queasy, Scott mounted the first horse and Abigail, swallowing nervously, mounted the second. Maria said something in a soft voice to the horses, who raced into the rain, fading from sight earlier than they should've. I suppose that meant they were on the other side of the country. "Now it's our turn."

"Let's go," ordered Isis. "We're wasting time."

**AN: Sorry it's been so long. This will probably be my last post before summer vacation because I'm so busy being tormented by school.**


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